Congrats on finishing out Lizards on the Loose 2022 strong! We had a great response, and are so happy to see all of your observations. Remember that 50 observations need to be added to the Lizards on the Loose 2022 project from your account to receive full credit for the challenge.

While observations made after Sunday, 4/23 won’t count towards totals, you can still add any previously made observations to the Lizards on the Loose 2022 project if they haven't already been added. You can do this by editing the observation so that it includes the “Anole Perch” field (Human-made or Natural) and then adding to the project. You can check how many observations each school (including yours) has made to the project by looking at the leaderboard here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=151657&place_id=any&verifiable=any&captive=any&view=observers

You can check out the web tutorials for advice on how to add observations to the project after they've been made:
Web Tutorial: https://youtu.be/oGCe8pjaib4
Apple App: https://youtu.be/PMIKLdjjMtM
Android App: https://youtu.be/EXyrcEKMZ28
Chris (@cthawley) and James (@james_stroud_lizardsontheloose)

After consultation with the Fairchild Challenge coordinators, we've decided to give all schools an extended deadline to make their submissions. We have lots of great observations still rolling in, and it would be a shame to stop!

Observations for this project will now count if they were taken and submitted by the end of the day on Sunday, 4/23 - that means there's still more than 2 weeks left to submit your lizards!

When adding observations, remember that they must include the "Anole Perch" field and be submitted to the iNaturalist Project to count for the Challenge. It's easiest to do this when making the observation, but you can also go back to observations and add them to the project even if you didn't do this initially.

Check out our tutorial videos if you need guidance for this:
Web Tutorial: https://youtu.be/oGCe8pjaib4
Apple App: https://youtu.be/PMIKLdjjMtM
Android App: https://youtu.be/EXyrcEKMZ28

We can't wait to see what you all observe over the next couple weeks!

Chris (@cthawley) and James (@james_stroud_lizardsontheloose)

There’s still two weeks of Lizards on the Loose left to go, and you all are doing an amazing job! We have over 1200 observations added to the project with more coming in everyday. Three schools have over 100 observations each, and two schools, @kpmsgarden1 and @materlakesfairchild, have observed all five species of anole we expect to see in the Miami area. We’ve seen lots of great observations of anole dewlap displays and anoles with crests up, indicating showdowns with other anoles during breeding season. We’re excited to see what the last two weeks of the project hold, and don’t forget to make sure all your observations have been added to the Lizards on the Loose 2022 project!

Chris (@cthawley) and James (@james_stroud_lizardsontheloose)

The Lizards on the Loose project has started off 2023 with a bang thanks to all of your great contributions so far. Despite January being one of the coldest months and lizard activity being quite low, you’ve already observed five species of anoles! This includes some of the harder to find and photograph species such as bark and knight anoles, which is great.

Currently, Aventura Waterways K-8 Center @awk8bio is leading the way in terms of number of observations and number of species (4). There is still plenty of time left for other schools to move up the leaderboard and challenge them by submitting observations! You are also doing a great job of determining whether anoles are using natural or human-made perch sites. We’ve seen observations of lizards on branches and leaves but also fences, light poles, and even furniture. We’re looking forward to seeing what other types of perches you find lizards using as breeding season kicks off in a few weeks, and the anoles will be out and doing some dramatic displays!

Chris (@cthawley) and James (@james_stroud_lizardsontheloose)